ALL TO MYSELF

XXIV - Liyah

I had barely been home for 45 minutes and I was already itching to get back to Atlanta. This was my first time being this far away from Pluto and I was miserable as fuck. Waking up scared as the plane landed and not having him there to tell me we were okay, carrying my own heavy ass luggage, having to do everything without his help just made me realize how comfortable and at ease he made me feel.

"I'm happy to see you," Alonzo finally said after a long silence. "It was hard for me to only be able to talk to you over the phone."

"I agree. We need to get you an iPhone," I teased, picking up his Android.

"I'm thinking about it. Anything to be able to actually see you."

"I'll work on coming home more. I promise."

"I understand if you can't. You're doing big things in Atlanta and I don't want you to miss out on that. I'm proud of you."

"Thanks, Dad," I smiled at him. "It feels good to hear you say that."

We asked each other questions, getting to know each other as we arrived at Gigi's house. This was her birthday weekend and I wasn't looking forward to seeing my extended family. Everyone always brought up Mama, pitying me. My cousins looked down on me because I never wanted to hang out with them. Gigi was the only person that made me feel like family. I walked up to the front door with Alonzo behind me, bracing myself before seeing everyone.

"Liyah!" my cousins Rachelle and Jasmine ran to hug me, shocking the hell out of me.

"Hey, y'all," I responded uncomfortably.

"How's Atlanta? How's Pluto? I can't believe my cousin is a celebrity. Cardi's makeup was so pretty. Can you do mine for the party?"

Their questions became overwhelming as Gigi entered the room, shutting everything down.

"Give her a second to breathe before y'all give her a damn panic attack. Come here, Maggie," she hugged me, calming me down before greeting Alonzo.

My cousins pulled me into the living room, continuing to ask me questions about my new life as I gave them half-assed answers.

"You have to come to the day party with us Sunday," Rachelle said. "And don't lie and say you don't go out."

"I guess I can go," I sighed, contemplating spending time with them so I could get my mind off how much I missed Pluto. "Depends on how I feel after Gigi's birthday party."

"Good," Jasmine said. "Because I'm fresh out of a relationship and I'm ready to get back in another one."

We laughed and talked some more and I really started to open up to them. I was skeptical when they said they wanted to visit Atlanta. I just knew that they wanted to be all in my space or see how they could benefit from being related to me so I lied and said I would talk to Pluto about it. Other than that, everything went smooth and I was actually looking forward to hanging out with them.

"Baby girl," Alonzo called from the kitchen. "Whenever you're ready, just let me know."

I excused myself, exchanging numbers and goodbyes with them before telling Gigi I would see her tomorrow. We stopped to get food and talk some more before he finally dropped me off at my hotel.

"I would walk you up but it's been a long day. Text me when you get inside and I'll call you tomorrow."

"Okay, thank you. See you tomorrow."

I got upstairs as fast as I could, jumping in the shower and getting in bed so I could finally talk to my man. I grabbed my iPad, cheesing in the camera as I waited for him to pick up.